Allied Feather + Down is not a company that most boaters know, but it plays a role in many of the brands that boaters buy. The California-based firm sources the materials that go into products sold by Vineyard Vines, Under Armour, Sail Racing and more. If you like the way a particular jacket stays warm but not too hot, materials from Allied Feather + Down may be at least part of the reason.

Since about 2010, the company has been trying to solve the problem of down having a bad relationship with water. “For boating and water sports in general, down has always been considered not applicable because of the high levels of moisture, from rain to humidity,” says Creative Director Matthew Betcher. “So even with a brand like Helly Hansen, it’s never something we really saw in their boating pieces until recently, where we can start to develop solutions for that problem.”

That solution is called ExpeDry. The idea is that instead of making water bead up on the outside, or shell, of a product, such as a jacket, ExpeDry will fight the water from within.

Think about how a down jacket or blanket has baffles, which are the squares that look kind of like a quilt. Inside each one of those baffles is what Betcher calls an insulation chamber. His team worked with a technology called FUZE to create tiny gold particles that permanently bond to the down inside the insulation chamber, creating an electrostatic barrier that stops, say, humidity from condensing into water.

“What would happen without it in a down blanket, for example, is that humidity would continue to be picked up by the down, and it would grow mold, lose loft, just get gross,” he says. “It will never really have a chance to dry out. What this does is help keep that down dry. It keeps the whole inside of the blanket drier.”

ExpeDry also makes it possible to hang a down product on a line and have it actually get dry without the need for a home-type, heat-based dryer—a boon for boaters who otherwise have no way to dry those products. “In a laundry situation, it helps the product dry over 50 percent faster,” he says. “Those comforters can take hours to dry properly. This saves a tremendous amount of time and energy.”

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Call it the big reveal. Mustang Survival’s new line of paddling PFDs and apparel has been a long time in the making, and provides big hints about what will come from the company next.

The brand, which is based in the Pacific Northwest, has been making gear that can handle adventurous environments since 1967. Its flotation devices and apparel have long been favorites among hardcore sailors and fishermen. Fast-forward to 2020, and paddling entered the company’s plans in a much bigger way. Mustang Survival merged with Massachusetts-based MTI, which specialized in US Coast Guard-approved life jackets.

MTI had a substantial catalog of foam-based PFDs that differed from the inflatables Mustang Survival had long produced. Since 2020, Mustang Survival has been rebranding that foam line, including PFDs for paddlers, and working on a line of paddling-specific apparel to go with it.

This past spring, the whole paddling collection was made widely available to the public for the first time. The goal with the apparel was to create a more versatile version of Mustang Survival’s drysuits—pieces to be layered and worn all day while comfortably paddling that keep the water out and the warmth in.

“The idea was inspired by kayaking,” says Gaby Hebert, who works on recreational product design. “The typical design in kayaks is that you have the hull of your boat, you put a neoprene skirt over the top of it, and if you flip your boat, the water has to go through a series of ups and downs to get into your boat. We used the same concept. It’s as close as you can get to watertight without having a drysuit.”

The apparel line is built in pairable pieces that work individually with the various PFDs for a good fit on most body shapes. Women’s PFDs, for instance, have different foam distribution than men’s.

“There’s actually a lot of different foam shaping that we’ve done, as well as a unique system called Adjust-a-Bust,” says Jonathan Liu, product manager for recreation. “It’s basically foam inserts in the chest area to support women of different chest sizes. Those are removable so women can be comfortable.”

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Riva, which has been launching boats in Italy since 1842, continues to broaden its brand with numerous products and experiences that fans can enjoy, separate from the exhilaration of spending a day out on the water aboard a Riva-built yacht.

New this year, for instance, is a Riva Privée that recently opened at the Cristallo, which is a luxury resort and spa in Italy. The temporary space will be open to guests at the resort’s Stube 1872 restaurant, where the chef has created a specialty Riva menu that highlights flavors evocative of the sea.

For fans of the Riva brand who can’t make it to Italy this summer to enjoy a taste or cruise, there is the Riva Boutique, which is accessible online. This shop for all things Riva has grown into a sizable store with offerings now available in multiple departments, including clothing, accessories, furniture and collectibles. 

Riva’s products are intended to suit all kinds of tastes, from pocket knives to cashmere hats to toys for the kids. Visitors to the online store will also find pillows, beach towels, sushi sets, coin trays, polo shirts, scarves, robes, bathing suits, lamps, tables, chairs and more. Serious collectors can choose a bronze fountain pen ($1,666) or metal scale models of some of the most popular boat models Riva has launched throughout the shipyard’s history.

Riva makes two versions of its pocket knife: the Aquarama (seen here), with a classic wooden handle, or “hull,” and the Rivamare, whose handle has the kind of silver finish seen on some of the builder’s newer boats. The handles have different shapes, just like the boat hulls, and, when the knives are open, they look like boats underway. The two are sold in a set ($1,212). 

This leather Backgammon set ($5,050) is made with mahogany, maple, steel and leather—all materials that can be found aboard Riva yachts. A Mambo fabric set ($2,828) is also available.

The Mareminerale fragrance diffuser ($133) is a way to bring home the scent of dawn over the sea, making just about any place reminiscent of a walk along the shoreline. 

Riva worked with Italy’s Borgo Cashmere to create this hat ($222), which is inspired by the classic sailor’s wool cap. Note the Riva logo in chrome-plated metal.

This balancing holder Atmosphere set($338) can hold and tilt either the Riva diffuser or candle ($66), both created by Culti Milano for the Riva home collection.  

This is just one boat in the four-piece Riva toy set ($515), which includes an Aquarama, an Aquariva, a Rivarama, and a toy truck to deliver any of them to the water. 

Built of grooved mahogany, the Riva trunk (price on request) can be used to store footwear, towels or whatever owners want aboard a yacht, in a home foyer or elsewhere.

Riva is working with other Italian-based brands, such as Borgo Cashmere and Culti Milano, to bring ever more products to market. They all share the styling that boaters will recognize aboard any Riva yacht, with colors and materials that can blend in aboard or bring a slice of the sea into various parts of a home ashore.  

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For decades, Mustang Survival has had teams of people in the Pacific Northwest figuring out how to design and make safety gear, clothing and more for military use in the harshest marine environments. About five years ago, the company decided to leverage that knowledge to add more products for recreational boaters. As a result, this winter, yachtsmen have new options to help them stay out on the water longer.

“This winter is really about extending the marine season and trying to keep people warm in wet or nasty conditions as winter approaches us,” says Joshua Horoshok, vice president of recreation business. “Traditionally, for us, that has always been through flotation clothing. This winter, we took a step out and worked with some really good materials to build out a more complete apparel line in terms of midlayers, drysuits and base layers.”

One example is the Torrens hooded thermal jacket ($259), which is available in men’s and women’s versions. Mustang Survival makes it with Polartec Alpha insulation.

“This was developed for military uses,” Horoshok says. “It’s really great for keeping you warm, even if it gets a little bit wet or damp. It’s really breathable as well.”

The company used body mapping to figure out how much of the insulation to use and where.

“We have a lab at our headquarters, and we looked at where you get cold on the body, where you need extra layers, so there’s extra thicknesses across different parts of the body,” he says. “Maybe you don’t need it as much under your armpits, but you need it more on the small of your back. We used temperature gauges on people and looked at data on where you would sweat and where you don’t.”

Additional features, such as an insulated hood, gaiters and an elasticized hem, help to block the wind. Different types of materials in the jacket’s underarms eliminate the feeling of winter-coat bulkiness.

Military clients have enjoyed these features for some time, Horoshok says, but “quite frankly, the designs and styling and features weren’t exactly right for recreation. So, we retooled those materials.”

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If there is one thing all boaters can agree it would be nice to have more of, it’s stowage. Whether the itinerary is two days or two weeks, there always seems to be more stuff than places to put it.

Enter Voormi, a Colorado-based company whose goal is to get all the clothes a sportsman needs into a single duffel bag. Each T-shirt, hoodie and additional piece is built from custom-made textiles that, chief marketing officer Timm Smith says, can go from hot to cold and rain to shine while keeping boaters comfortable.

“I’ve taken the River Run hoodie on our two-week sailing trips to Anegada,” he says of his family’s cruises in the British Virgin Islands. “I sailed for two weeks with that thing on every single day. Wool is naturally anti-odor; it doesn’t hold odors like polyester and other sun shirts do, so you don’t have to wash it. Wool also recovers well, so when you put it on for day six, it fits the same as on day one. And I was taking kitesurfing lessons when I was down there, so I wore it for sun protection, and it dried out super fast when I got back on the beach. Our river guides in places like the Grand Canyon love it for all those reasons too. It’s the killer piece.”

Voormi makes its textiles and does its sewing in the United States, combining natural fibers such as wool and cotton with advanced manufacturing for qualities such as moisture-wicking. The company also came up with a way to add a waterproof membrane not by gluing it to other fabrics but instead by inserting it into the machine while the textile is made.

“We call that core construction,” Smith says, adding that the process eliminates the stiffness of, say, a big winter coat.”It basically gives you the comfort of a sweater with the protection of a shell—and you get rid of all the crunching noises.”

After nearly a decade in business, the company offers not just tops but also base layers, vests, outerwear, socks, gaiters and more.

“We’re for people who appreciate good stuff,” Smith says. “Anybody can make a jacket, but making one that you’re truly blown away by every time you wear it, and you’re excited to be a part of a company full of good people, that’s what we are.”

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